PAUL: AN APOSTLE OF CHRIST. Pts. 1-2

My wife, grandson, and I patronized the new movie, “Paul: An Apostle of Christ” yesterday.

I have always liked Jim Caviezel, who starred in, “The Passion of the Christ” and “The Count of Monte Cristo.” In the movie we attended yesterday, he portrayed Luke, the physician; the writer of The Gospel of Luke and The Book of Acts. James Faulkner, an actor with whom I was not familiar, did an admirable job with the Apostle Paul role.

While it is not my particular mission in life to act as a movie critic, suffice it to say I am hard of hearing, and the audio wasn’t all that good. It is bad enough to attend a movie, and as a hearing challenged person miss out on half of the script, it is worse still when persons without hearing difficulties come away from a film, without having been able to decipher much of the audio; which was the case with my wife. (I think my grandson slept through most of it).

However, in spite of my difficulty making out the audio, while some of the movie was obviously fictionalized, and when “thrown up against” similar films, I would grade it a “B,” it was, nonetheless, a very insightful motion picture.

Several scenes in the movie stood out for me. One, in particular, was nothing short of gruesome. While I was all too aware of the martyrdom of Christians in Rome, and the manner in which it occurred, the depiction of believers being hoisted up on poles, covered with tar, and set ablaze to light up Nero’s parties, and nearby avenues made the sacrifice of our fellow men and women of faith all too vivid.

Pt. 2

I have always liked “The Phillips Paraphrase of the New Testament,” and earlier this year it occurred to me to transcribe my own paraphrase; which I just recently finished.

I had previously paraphrased, “The Book of Philippians.” As a result of that comparatively minor undertaking, I came away with more compassion for and virtual camaraderie with the Apostle Paul than from any task I’d ever attempted in my 2/3 of a century on this planet.

It was though I had been afforded the opportunity to walk into the Roman prison, (as indeed Luke the physician did in both the movie and in reality, and sit down beside our dear brother Paul).

To converse with him, to listen to the man expound his thoughts, to experience the dank darkness, to hear unmentionable sounds emanating from adjoining cells, to realize the thoughts, emotions and words of a man taken against his will, but who had willingly given himself over to the cause of Christ, and who had, during the course of decades, suffered like few men ever suffered; simply because he had the wherewithal to “see the invisible.”

“Are they the servants of Christ? I so much the more. I have worked much harder, been in prison more frequently, been flogged more severely, and been exposed to death again and again.

Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was pelted with stones. Three times I was shipwrecked.

I spent a night and a day in the open sea. I have had no place to lay my head. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles, in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea, and in danger from false believers. I

have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep. I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food. I have been cold and naked. Besides all this, I am always concerned for the wherewithal of our churches.
(2^nd Cor. 11:23-28, McDonald Paraphrase)

Afterward

I think that the character who portrayed Paul in the movie, along with his prison environment were more than adequately portrayed, and seemed very much like the persuasions I came away with having paraphrased my favorite book in the Bible; Philippians. THE book, in my humble opinion which characterizes the Apostle Paul, and his life in the Mamertine Prison like none other.

As the movie reaches it conclusion, the Apostle Paul shares an illusion with his Roman jailer; which begins with a question.

“Have you ever been sailing, Captain? (To which the middle-aged centurion responds affirmatively).

You find yourself out on the ocean in a small boat; surrounded by interminable miles of water. Suddenly, you lean over and dip your outstretched hand into the sea, and scoop up a fist full of the liquid. Of course, it isn’t long before those few ounces of water drip between your fingers, and disappear into the whole again.

That handful of water is very much like your life. It is draining away on a daily basis, and before very long it is past. That tiny handful of water is insignificant, but it is all we have and know at the present.

However, the untold fathoms of the ocean which stretches out before you, as far as the distant horizon, is so much like the life which awaits us; a depth which cannot be plumbed, but only realized, and upon which my hope is based.”

(Mc)Donald's Daily Diary. Vol. 80. By William McDonald, PhD. Copyright pending.

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